About

Who I am

For over 70 years...

I’ve been a questioner, a doubter, and a seeker of meaning in life;
At ease with paradox, the unknown, and the unknowing;
Comfortable with differences and life on the margins;
Committed to social justice, equity, and change.

Personally...

I’m a white, queer, cis-gendered, able-bodied, and educated elder woman; 
a wife, a mother, and a grandmother raised in a secure and loving family;
educated in the South in the 1950s and 60s and New England in the 1990s.
My father was a respected minister and seminary professor dedicated to community action
and social change; my mother was a high school teacher in inner-city schools.
Both served as role models through their commitment to helping others. 
I lived my adult life in the mid-Atlantic and DC areas, retiring to Cape Cod in Massachusetts. 
Across my lifetime, I have embraced my evolving faith and fluid sexuality,
as chronicled in my recent memoir,
Evolving: Faith, Sexuality, and Aging.

Professionally... 

I’m a spiritual companion, an educator, a group facilitator, a writer, a volunteer,
and a student of meaning in life. 
Committed to social justice for the LGBTQIA+ community, I serve as a volunteer
and board member for PFLAG Cape Cod.
I am a retired clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and university professor.
Although I no longer practice psychotherapy, the listening skills, abilities, and intuition
I developed over many years remain central to my relationships and spiritual companionship.  
I recently completed the Center for Action and Contemplation’s Living School,
based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and I’m an intern in Stillpoint’s Art of Spiritual Direction
program, based in Los Angeles, California.

Spiritually... 

Throughout my life, my spiritual journey has taken a non-dualistic, ongoing, circular path. 
Though raised in a religious home, I long ago moved away from the religious teachings
of my childhood and have deeply explored the development of my own faith.
I value the place of doubt in my life as a vital pathway to my evolving faith.
I am part of a progressive and welcoming Episcopal Church, where I actively engage in lay leadership.

Today... 

I experience a sense of the Holy, the Spirit, the Divine...
When I walk on Cape Cod beaches and witness the ebb and flow of the tides,
and the pink, red, and gold of the sunsets; 
When I watch my young grandchildren play and my dog romp on the beaches
and through the woods and park;
When I move through the darkness and tensions of daily life, welcoming the hope
that always emerges;
When I intimately, vulnerably, and lovingly share with my wife and closest friends;
When I honestly write my inner feelings and secret thoughts or sit silently
in prayerful contemplation. 

Professional Bio

Susanne Bennett is a spiritual director, author, and educator living on Cape Cod. A former psychotherapist and university professor at The Catholic University of America and Smith College, she specialized in mental health, attachment, and clinical social work with LGBTQIA+ individuals and families.

Susanne holds a PhD from Smith College, an MSW from the University of Maryland, and a BA in religion from Wake Forest University. She is the co-editor of Adult Attachment in Clinical Social Work: Practice, Research, and Policy (2010, Springer) and has authored over 30 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. She is a recent graduate of the Center for Action and Contemplation’s Living School in New Mexico and an intern at Stillpoint’s Art of Spiritual Direction in California. 

For an extended list of Susanne’s professional experience, view her Curriculum Vitae.